9ff GT9 could unseat Veyron with 254 mph top speed
EVO Magazine just released info (and pics) about that very special project from German Porsche tuner, 9ff. If 9ff sounds familiar, you may remember it as the company that has set a couple of street legal records with highly modified 911s. It appears they have given up on the 911's rear-engine configuration in favor of a custom vehicle with its engine mounted amidships. The new car is called the GT9 and uses some 911 componentry, but is really a unique project that looks somewhat like Porsche's own GT1. The idea is to use a 900+ hp 4.2 liter flat-six to outdo the Veyron's 253 mph top end. And they plan to do it at Nardo, the huge bowl–shaped test facility in southern Italy, which essentially means the vehicle will be in the turns the whole time. In case you were wondering, that generally results in a lower speed than on the 5.6 mile long straightaways at VW's Ehra-Lessien test track, the site of the Veyron's runs. The fight for supremacy in the supercar world is certainly getting heated.
American specialty manufacturer, SSC is currently going about that task in a slightly different way, and Koenigsegg and Saleen seem to have vehicles available that would also challenge these speeds, but 9ff has experience here, as well. They've already had a 911 go 241 with just 840 hp. Sorting out what kind of record this would be is a bit tricky. Tuners are generally separated from production cars, but specialty manufacturers can actually qualify as production vehicles, even if they sell far fewer cars than the tuners. If it's any consolation, 9ff says that it has already sold two of these GT9s before the first one was even built. Prices start at 400,000 euro, in case you were wondering, a pittance compared to the Bug's going rate. We'll be sure to let you know if and when the GT9 hits 409km/h, besting the Veyron's vmax.
[Source: EVO]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
James Valley 5:34PM (3/26/2007)
Another race car, specially designed for that purpose, to run once by a credited pilot...
...and somehow, people seem to still think that's comparable to the Veyron...
Not that the Veyron is unbeatable, but not like that and not yet.
Let's strip the Veyron of it's superfluous and heavy luxuries, reduce the aerodynamic drag, stiffen the suspension, fit proper racing tires, tune it's engine for some more hundred hp, pick a high profile professional driver, and then maybe we could make some kind of comparision. :)
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DPC car videos 4:56PM (3/26/2007)
I don't think it is fair to compare the 9ff GT9 to the Bugatti Veyron. The 9ff GT9 is a tuner car and the Bugatti is a factory car. Its like bringing the Mine's 1000+ horsepower Nissan skyline, setting it up for top speed and have a go at it.
http://www.dpccars.com
DPCcars
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jj 5:27PM (3/26/2007)
I don't think you can lump the Veyron in with the cars you and I drive. What's the price tag? How many do you see around? Even with the money, how do I get one? Just because Ferrari makes and sells the Enzo doesn't mean it is a civilian-class street car.
Besides, knowing VW, tuner cars (even a 1000hp mines gtr) is going to be more reliable and less daily hassle than the Veyron.
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Lee Gibson 6:39PM (3/26/2007)
Don't you think it's gonna need some wheels first? If it can do 200+ on brake rotors, well, I'm going to buy one and go for the world rail car speed record.
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SherbornSean 6:49PM (3/26/2007)
Shows what an awesome platform the Cayman rides on. Little brother is more sports car than the 911.
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naggs 7:23PM (3/26/2007)
the cayman is better performance machine than the 911. if the cayman got all the goodies (lsd, 3.8 flat 6) it would be faster than the 911 for less money. how long is porsche going to artifically keep this car down?
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MikeW 7:36PM (3/26/2007)
How much of a platform was the boxster anyway? It had the same front struts and leading link steering of the 911, it just did not retain the rear multilink.
This is not cayman, it may not even be a 911. It looks like custom control/coil over front suspension.
Until the Veyron gets another ~200hp, the real top speed will be 235mph. When the W16 makes 1250+hp then it will be able to do 253+ in handling mode. It is not like you can ask during a rolling start 'can we stop so I can put the car in its special top speed mode' No!
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Lee Gibson 10:15PM (3/26/2007)
"It is not like you can ask during a rolling start 'can we stop so I can put the car in its special top speed mode' No!"
So, Mike, do you really think you're going to be looking at a lot of rolling start street races that you need a top speed of over 235 mph?
"the real top speed will be 235mph"
And here, silly me, I thought that the "real" top speed was how fast the car would go.
There aren't a hell of a lot of road cars that can even touch THAT number, never mind 250+.
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Roadkill 1:13AM (3/27/2007)
I thought the veyron was already (electronically) limited in top speed because of the tyres. Another 200 HP is not going to solve that issue and the 'handling mode' is all about aerodynamics, nothing to do with HP
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nagmashot 2:00AM (3/27/2007)
welcome in last year... this is a very old news with some wrong numbers!
9ff GT9
basic car is a completly rebuild Porsche 996 GT3!
The engine is a 4.0l flat 6
the poweroutput is 987hp at 7840rpm
1326kg
476,000Euro
The car is street legal and runs under latest europen emission limits. Planed topspeed run is first half 2007.
There are several europen companys running for the crow of the fastest street legal car.
Alzen Motorsport/ H+R Mission 400plus
9ff GT9
edo Competition Maserati MC12 XX
the new Koenigsegg
etc.
9ff already reached with a normal shaped Porsche 911 388km/h in Nardo (243mph) back in 2004. They know how to setup a car to go topspeed in a giant turn..
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Michael 3:18AM (3/27/2007)
I see people defending the Veyron here, saying that the 9ff is built purely for one thing and so it can't be compared to the Veyron. But the design brief with the Veyron was 1000hp and 250mph, so I don't see how that's any different. They figured out how to do that as best they could, sorted the suspension so it would handle well, and that's that. If they managed to get the Veyron handling well (which it sounds like they have), then I don't see why the 9ff cannot acheive the same thing, especially as they've moved the engine forward in the chassis a bit.
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nagmashot 3:45AM (3/27/2007)
#11
9ff did not move the engine a little bit forward they turned it around... making the 911 a real midengine car like the Porsche GT1.
here are some better pictures as the EVO magazine pic´s
http://i2.turboimagehost.com/b1/279844/mini_1.jpg
http://i2.turboimagehost.com/b1/279845/mini_2.jpg
http://i2.turboimagehost.com/b1/279850/a1.JPG
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nagmashot 3:45AM (3/27/2007)
and the rest
http://i2.turboimagehost.com/b1/279851/a2.JPG
http://i2.turboimagehost.com/b1/279852/a3.JPG
http://i2.turboimagehost.com/b1/279853/a4.JPG
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nagmashot 3:50AM (3/27/2007)
BTW if 9ff is successfull with the record braking they wanna build a smale scale production run of 20 9ff GT9
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Michael 4:10AM (3/27/2007)
nagmashot - I understand they changed the layout, my wording was not good. :) I was just wanting to make the point that the weight distribution being closer to the centre of the car should help the predictability of the on-limit handling. Thanks for the pics!
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James Valley 4:56AM (3/27/2007)
11#
The difference is that if we didn't know anything about the Veyron and suddendly saw it on the street, we would immediatly see that the Veyron isn't about speed: it's about luxury and excess...
...Even if it is terribly fast! :)
The tire issues weren't related to the speed: they were related to the need to provide a confortable and smooth ride, and still reaching 407 km/h.
The 9ff will never be a luxury item: it's a road legal extreme race car, which is amazing, but very different.
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John-Scott Smith 8:44AM (3/27/2007)
There should be some kinda rule that says you have to produce X number of units in a factory on an assembly line for the car to be considered the "fastest street legal car".
Doesnt seem very fair that 9ff get to remount the engine, stiffen the chassis, use race tires, etc... compared to a true "factory car". It would be like Z06 versus the CR6...not a very fair comparison. Shame on you 9ff for trying to a take a crown that doesn't belong to you.
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MikeW 7:31PM (3/27/2007)
The Veyron is drag limited in normal (handling mode) to about 235mph. Throw another 200hp at it (thanks overboost) and you got yourself an extra 20mph. (with the rear spoiler/wing extended)
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